THE IMPERFECT TENSE

The imperfect tense in Spanish is used to

• describe things that used to happen

• places,objects and people (in the past)

• give background description that is secondary to the main action.

It is formed by taking the stem of the infinitive and adding the endings as follows

Ar verbs e.g. hablar

Yo hablaba

Tú hablabas

Él/ella/usted hablaba

Nosotros hablábamos

Vosotros hablabais

Ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaban

Er verbs

E.g. comer

Yo comía

Tú comías

Él/ella/usted comía

Nosotros comíamos

Vosotros comíais

Ellos/ellas/ustedes comían

E.g. vivir

Yo vivíaTú vivías

Él/ella/usted vivía

Nosotros vivíamosVosotros vivíaisEllos/ellas/ustedes vivían

IR verbs

Guess the good news?

There are only THREE irregular verbs in the imperfect!

SER—to be (P)ERAERASERAÉRAMOSERAISERAN

IR—to goIBA

IBASIBA

ÍBAMOSIBAISIBAN

VER—to seeVEÍA

VEÍASVEÍA

VEÍAMOSVEÍAISVEÍAN

The imperfect

The preterite

The imperfect sets the scene in the past and thepreterite ‘crashes’into it, with a single action.

• Things that used to happen

Cuando era joven me gustaba ir al parque todos los días.

When I was young I used to like going to the park every day.

• Places,objects and people (in the past)

La chica era alta,tenía el pelo largo y llevaba gafas

The girl was tall, had long hair and wore glasses

• Background description that is secondary to the • main action (in the past)

Eran las doce de la noche. Hacía viento y llovía. El asesino entró en la casa con una pistola.

It was midnight. It was windy and it was raining. The murderer entered the house with a pistol.